HDA - Classified Secrets by Cherylann Rivers Introduction

About ten minutes after 11:00, Joe and Fenton Hardy pulled into Disney World’s main entrance. Already, they could see chaos ensuing. All around them, people were standing, talking, and complaining, wondering why they could no longer gain admittance to the park. Little children pulled at the hands of their parents, tears streaming down their faces, as the parents tried in vain to explain why they couldn’t see the "pretty light show." If only they knew, Joe thought, as he hurried through the gates.

Within minutes, Joe and Fenton managed to make their way into the main security area, directly in view of Cinderella’s Castle. Immediately, Fenton went to work, speaking with the government and state officials who were already planning some sort of pre-emptive move. The place was hopping with activity. Joe looked around, fighting back the panic that was threatening to swallow him up. If they couldn’t stop this group, how many of the hundreds, maybe thousands of people, sitting and laughing so innocently, would be dead within an hour? Even more on his mind, though, was Iola and Vanessa. What sort of trouble could they be in? In shame, Joe realized that he was even more concerned for Vanessa than for Iola, for she was somehow at the center of whatever was about to go down. In one of the few moments of utter clarity in his life, Joe realized that no matter what happened, he did love Vanessa, and he’d have to tell her. He loved Iola as well, but differently, and for the first time, he began to realize that. Hands shaking, Joe just prayed that he would get the chance to tell his girls, the both of them, how dearly he loved them. He also knew in his heart that his choice was made. He’d have to wait until later, IF he got the chance, to tell …. Well, his true love how he felt.

Joe caught sight of his father after a few moments, and pulled him aside. "Dad? What’s going on? Can we go in? I mean, who are these guys? What’s their agenda? Have you found out any answers?" Joe knew he sounded frantic, but that was okay—he WAS frantic.

Fenton Hardy’s concern was etched on his face. "Son, we don’t have a lot of time, but I’ll tell you what I do know, or what I, and many others, THINK, is going on."

"Go ahead." Joe was anxious to move, to get any answers that he could.

"Joe, in about 10 minutes, at 11:30, we’re going to try and move up to the castle. We have to be very careful; we don’t want to panic the masses. There is a parade of lights, as you know, that will start around that time. For some reason, a lot of people think it starts at midnight, but it doesn’t; it ends there, with a huge fireworks display. Unfortunately, we know what they fireworks will be."

"But…" Joe struggled for words. "Are there other bombs planted? Whatever this one is, it’s got to be huge. And Vanessa… where is she?"

Fenton gave Joe an affectionate squeeze on his arm. "I really don’t know. What I do know is that in a few minutes, this parade will start. As we speak, a lot of people are moving in on the castle secretly. Officers, within the past hour since you cracked this, have been working feverishly on other areas of the Park. The President—not of Disney, but of the United States- is being kept informed of our progress. We have a serious international threat on our hands. Obviously, the United States is the final target."

"But dad- WHO are these people? What do they want?" Joe didn’t understand, and any information he could get that might later aide him would be beneficial, especially if it helped him to find Vanessa and Iola.

"That, Joe, is what we’ve been working on. Nothing seemed to make much sense to us, not until the connections that you and your brother found in the ads between Prince Charming and this other group. We think what’s been happening is that there is an international terrorist group which is opposed to all forces of the Western World and the freedoms that it represents. The obvious symbol of freedom is the United States, and the symbol of happiness and innocence is Disney World. As you know, these attacks have taken place in various "free" countries over the course of the last five or six months, and now, the "midnight hour" is apparently at hand."

"But I still don’t get what they want!" Joe was frustrated.

"World dominance; the ability to shake the core of freedom to its very roots. They have money, Joe, and access to all sorts of medical facilities. There has always been the distant, although always viable threat, of bio-terrorism. We just got a small taste of it with Meningitis. Don’t you see? They attacked the homeland from within, at the same time attacking us from the outside. Remember the code from the High Schools: SOMEDAY- Someday, Joe, this organization will "be"- and today, son, that’s just their plan."

"Are they people from the Middle East?" Joe had always been aware of the tensions in that area of the world, but never had it seemed like such a plausible threat until this very moment.

Fenton looked sadly at Joe. "Yes, son, at least in part. However, they’re from all over the world, including, disgustingly enough, Western countries. They are people with an agenda to pursue. Some may have religious reasons, others philosophical—the main reason, I’ve always found, comes down to economics. If you can destroy free trade and ideals, then you must inherently form unions with those nations who can then dominate the destroyed or fearful countries through terror."

"Who’s the Prince?" Joe’s voice was shaking now.

"Who isn’t he?" Fenton responded. "We don’t know. With luck and the Grace of God, we may find out. It doesn’t really matter, though. Where there’s one man to be the "current" Prince, there are dozens to follow in his footsteps. We have to break down these cells, these "secret chambers." We will. I just hope we can do it on time." He looked nervously at the castle.

Joe was barely breathing. Finally, he looked up. "Dad? This group almost wanted to claim responsibility for this, didn’t they? That’s why they had this whole charade going with Cinderella and all. I just …." He paused. "Dad, we need to try and go there. Now." It was 11:30.

Joe almost jumped as loud music began playing. He noticed the lights darken, as figures in white and colored lights came strolling happily down Main Street, U.S.A. It took him a second to recover. Joe couldn’t help but to think to himself how cruel life could be—he could practically see Fate, waiting in the wings to take its ‘justified’ place in the universe, while all the while these innocent people gazed happily about, blissfully unaware of how soon their lives would be taken. It wasn’t fair.

All around him, children laughed and played, parents smiled, and Magic Figures danced playfully. Simultaneously, he knew that behind the scenes, the national guard, law enforcement agents from the national and state level, and top secret agents were lurking around, trying to stop what would be the world’s greatest terrorist attack. Joe was struck by the dichotomy, and he realized how you just never knew what was real and what was, indeed, magic behind the scenes.

The Castle had obviously been closed off, although the parade worked its way by it, and still was a charming spectacle. As Joe started getting closer to the Castle, followed by his father and quite a few agents, he began running. Whatever was in there wasn’t good, and he knew he had to find out.

"Joe! Wait!" Joe heard his father’s voice screaming for him in the background. He didn’t care. As he came to the castle entrance, he felt himself being grabbed and pulled back. He fought against his aggressor, who held onto him tightly. Finally, Joe stopped struggling. He simply couldn’t break free.

Soon, he felt himself released and facing a man in a military uniform. "You can’t go up there- specialists are working on this. I know you’re Fenton Hardy’s son, and I know you want to help, but you can't. I’m sorry."

Joe was about to argue and continue the short distance to the Castle when, all at once, he heard loud music booming across the park. Clearly, it was coming from the Castle, for it was so loud, Joe thought he’d go deaf. It seemed like – no, it WAS—the theme song from Cinderella. Joe shook his head, trying to clear it. WHAT was going on? All at once, the lights surrounding the castle went off. Joe heard some screams in the distance, followed moments later by a chorus of "OOOH’s" and "AAHHH’s" as a huge spotlight descended from somewhere right to the front of the Castle, which, moments ago, lay dark and vacant. Joe, along with the officials behind him, looked up to see what the big cause of attention was.

At once, Joe felt his breath escape him, and felt dizzy and weak. There, right before his eyes and the eyes of the international community and the general spectators at the park, sat Cinderella, looking as beautiful as anyone could imagine. Only Joe knew in an instant that this was no ordinary Cinderella. There was Vanessa Bender, sitting on some sort of chair. Joe could tell at once by the tiniest of red buttons lighting from beneath the chair that somehow, Vanessa was literally sitting on a bomb. He froze.

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Disclaimer

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation, The authors have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow them without express permission of the authors.